Hello everyone. As you all know I am a year older now and with that comes more responsibility and maturity. Yeah right.

My wonderful bride made dinner and invited just a couple of people over and we had a very nice evening. Here are a few pics, actually the only pics. Once again the food and drink got in the way of keeping up with the photo journalism. I guess that just goes to show where the responsibility part went.


Here we are all civilized. You'll notice Roman is awake again. Michelle always seems to know where the camera is and is ready for her close up.
Gio smiling at his most recent food pic.
And here it is. Baked feta and prawns with some pita bread. UMMM UMMM. This was all we really needed. If we had stopped here I think everyone would have been satisfied.
But no there is more. A rocket salad with shaved parm. Barbara is on a roll here folks.
Ohh and she hits it out of the park. Yes that's the famous cheesy baked egg crepes the she pulls out once in a blue moon with some Italian sausage and roasted chicken. Okay people I think that life could end here and I would be a very happy man.
I think everyone would agree with me by the looks of what was left. Hang on it's my birthday right..
Ohhh hell yeah. Dark chocolate and espresso cookies and, stick with me here, lemon merange pie. SCORE
Heather, our supplier of the pie. Fast becoming our most invited guest, as long as she keeps bringing the pie that is.
Her hubby Roman. This is the look I saw on his face right before he disappeared at Ukrainian Christmas.
A full birthday boy. Happy Happy
Things are starting fade here
Could this be the culprit
And the outcome. I guess it was my turn. This is where the maturity ended up. Looking at this pic I think I might be pregnant. I couldn't possibly have eaten too much, not with all that amazing food. Oh well.

Until next time

Hello all. It being the end of the festive season I thought I would post our Ukrainian feast pics. I have never had an almost complete traditional Ukrainian Christmas meal and I was very impressed. I say almost complete because I believe that there were one or two dishes left out for reasons of legality. Apparently in the zeal of keeping drugs or drugs like products out of Singapore poppy seeds are not available or allowed into Singapore. So all of those poppy seed bagel lovers need not come to Sing, and god forbid you try to smuggle in some, you will probably get caned. I also have to note that the perogies and cabbage rolls were pretty good but not as good as Evas. He even made mushroom gravy which ranked very HIGH on the hit list.
Meet Roman. He's a Ukrainian from Toronto. Please don't hold the Toronto bit against him, he really is a pretty good guy. You'll notice he is wearing a traditional Ukrainian shirt. Upon my arrival I had no idea that this was a traditional event. I was presented with my own shirt at the door. This is the beginning of the meal and he is throwing some kind of wheat thing up to the ceiling and if some sticks it's supposed to be a prosperous year.
It took a couple of trys and each one landing in his soon to be wifes lap
but he finally hit the mark. I personally think that since each time he tried and it landed in his wifes lap that he's going to be a very lucky man this year. That's just my opinion.
Now he's going to bless the table before we start. This took a little while because there was quite a bit of rambling that I didn't understand in Ukrainian. I will note here that Roman did all the cooking for 9 of the 10 dishes that day and he started drinking at around 10 in the morning. We can all understand that I am sure, since the food always turns out better if the chef is relaxed and what better way to relax than with a glass of white wine.
So we start with the borsch which my wonderful wife made. Again I will state that this was a traditional meal. Now I think most people who know us have had Barbaras borsch before and know that she always has a lot of veggies in it. Notice no veggies, (what it does have in it are little mushroom filled dough things.) I got there early with the goods and as soon as I turned my back Roman snatched the borsch and strained all the liquid out. I was more than a little taken back as well as frightened of the reaction that Barbara might have. I must note at this point that Barbara cut the end of her finger off in the preparation of this dish and to do so in vain was probably not going to go over well. Needless to say I poured a glass of wine and met her at the door with it and warned her. Only after eating some did she forgive him. It was pretty good but her "traditional" way is better. No offense Roman.
Bread with a candle in it. Considered a dish but inedible because it has a candle in it, ie the bread gets a bit waxy after a little while.
Aha the mushroom gravy. I am not sure if this is considered a dish but I am positive that it is a necessity. After this came out my brain went into a bit of a fog and I stopped taking food pics. I don't know, this stuff happens.
Roman and his son Alex are huge Dr. Who fans. I am not sure where this falls into the tradition but I guess its there somewhere.

So this is an over view of the food. A plate is set up for all the dead relatives. It consists of Wine, of course, bread with honey, boiled wheat, mashed beans, cabbage rolls, pickled herring, ummm, perogie, baked fish, borsch, fruit compote, the bread with a candle and 2 others that he couldn't make because of certain laws. Not a bad spread.

Oh yeah he had some Ukrainian vodka and these ice shooter glasses. We were informed that we needed to cleanse the palate after every few dishes. Don't want the flavors to conflict with each other I guess. Let me just say it was the best vodka I have ever had and I don't care for straight vodka. This stuff was good. One of these was also put on the plate for the past relatives. No expense is spared for the dead.
Barbara agrees. Took her back to the homeland. Notice the bandage on the finger. Yeah she wasn't feeling any pain by the end of the night.
Neither was Roman. This is what happens when you drink all day and finish the meal off with straight frozen Ukrainian vodka. Remember this boys and girls, vodka between courses can cause drowsiness. Apparently he didn't move from that position the whole night. Thanks Roman

Now I need to go to the gym to work off the meal.

Bye for now

I've been in Bali for approximtely an hour and a half and look at me. I don't know how I am going to relax in this place.

What an amazing place. The land of a million smiling faces is how I will forever remember Bali. I know this is only the first trip we have taken there and surly others will follow during our time in this part of the world but I think the impression left on both of us is "paradise." Can't wait to go back. We went to the mountain area called Ubud in the central part of the island and it was magical. Such lush forest, sweet smelling air and friendly people. If ever one wanted to retire in the tropics this is the place to do it. If that thought has crossed your mind in lets say Mexico, erase it, save your nickles and dimes and come to Bali. You will be a changed person.

Here are the pics, at least the ones that didn't get lost in whatever mad frenzy I was in while downloading them ( I hate computers ). I hope you enjoy them.

Lets start with the culprits



Our hotel room, not too shabby. Good score Mr Owen
A tub big enough for two.
And of course an out door shower for one. Barbara refused to use this because she was convinced there were critters lurking about
The best way to start the day
Cute now, 1 year down the road a thieving little bastard
Our driver for a day, Nyoman



Rice terraces. A dying form in Bali



Ahh to live a dogs life in a Hindu temple.

A gimlet to finish off the day.
Some local hootch. It's called Arak, not too bad actually.



This is as close as Barbara got to having an outdoor shower



One big friggin spider.

Cat crap coffee after roasting

Cap crap coffee after expulsion
Which one is the coffee and which ones are tea
Paula found the tea
I think Owen found the coffee



You always feel the eyes upon you. Sneaky little devils






Some crazy statues at the temple of the dead




Close enough to the real thing for us
So I started taking picture of the doorways along the streets of Ubud. They are all different and beautiful the way the greet you. All very peaceful




These were super cool. I've never seen these anywhere else. The intracey in the carving is awesome. Too bad Barbara wouldn't let me buy one. Maybe next time while she's asleep on the beach I'll slip away and buy one.



We need to get how much more money?
Us too.
I think someone might be a little exausted.
There's only one way to take care of this..
Cocktails



The requisit cockroach pic. I think there will be one from every trip. I'm still on the lookout for a good one in Singapore.



Its a John Hardy infestation. I have yet to find anything that will kill these things. They seem to be multiplying. Rapidly



Little frogs. How am I supposed to eat frogs legs when their brothers are sitting there looking at me?
So we thought we should maybe look at some property while we were there. This looked good. It came with a chicken. What more does a person need?






More property. Sure its a bit of a fixer upper but if the price is right...
This one might be a little small


A very heated game of Yatzee. Decisions decisions

R Rurley, yeah thats us alright.
Mr & Mrs Rurley
Michelle and her friend Chad who came over for the holidays.
New years fun
What a good looking group

Uh oh


Friends, gotta love 'em.

Bye for now